We attended the Red Line demonstration in the city of Paris today. In light of the recent Paris attacks, it was unclear whether the event would take place. However, approximately 10,000 people gathered peacefully today to dance, sing, march and chant. The police were in attendance, ensuring the safety of all participants.

The Red Line represents climate injustice. It stretched from the Arc de Triomphe and pointed toward La Défense area, where the major fossil fuel company headquarters are located.

In this blog post, we will highlight some protest signs and the reasons and facts behind them.

This sign calls for a halt on nuclear energy production as a solution to climate change. Nuclear energy does not involve the burning of fossil fuels and in turn limits the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Due to this fact, many people feel an increase in Nuclear energy is a solution to lowering greenhouse gas emissions. However, the opposition question the safety of the plants, where the nuclear waste will be disposed, financial expense and the carbon emissions from building the plants. The organizations backing the idea of putting a halt to nuclear production as a solution to climate change include Amis de la Terre, France Nature Environment, Greenpeace, Heinrich Boll Foundation and Réseau Sortir du Nucléaire.

​The current international goal of limiting global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius has been criticized by many climate activists. They argue that the 2-degrees increase is a death sentence for poor and vulnerable countries that are already experiencing the effects of climate change such as harsher droughts and sea-level rise. Instead, they propose limiting the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees. The final draft of the Paris agreement commits to “to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.” However, this draft has not been voted on yet.

​Agribusiness refers to large-scale factory farming that is pesticide and fertilizer dependent. According to the Climate Institute, agriculture is responsible for 25% of the greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere, and cites agriculture as being responsible for nearly 1/3 of climate change. Peasant agriculture, on the other hand, signifies small-scale farming. Small scale farms are the antithesis of large, monoculture farms, using minimal or no pesticides and fertilizer, planting many different species and planting crops appropriate for the climate meaning less reliance on irrigation.

Burning fossil fuels releases a lot of greenhouse gases and majorly contributes to anthropogenic climate change. Climate activists view fossil fuels as the root cause of climate change and argue that cutting down on the production and use of fossil fuels is the key to reaching the international goal of limiting warming to below 2°C. Since fossil fuels are removed from the ground through drilling and mining, activists use the slogan "leave it in the ground" implying there should be a complete halt to fossil fuel extraction.

​Ecosocialists, especially from the United States and Canada, believe that capitalism is a major driving force of climate change. They argue that environmental degradation and social injustice stems from a for-profit driven model of society. Therefore, ecosocialism promotes working outside the current for-profit economic and political model in order to achieve climate justice. These activists are calling for an end to capitalism, believing that will help halt climate change.

I am glad that this event took place peacefully and without and interruption. I do believe however that nuclear energy is the answer for the time being. That is until renewable energy production is efficient enough to be used as a larger part of the world's energy production. I also believe that we have already passed the point where 1.5 degrees celsius is a possible to climate change. We are wasting time we do not have debating over policy when in reality, we have to act now if we want to limit the temperature rise to 2 degrees.

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Jared Potts

12/14/2015 04:26:55 pm

i feel that all of these signs provide valuable information for the UN and the public. The UN need to know where the people stand on these issues and the public that may not know a lot about the subject can learn. Every sign that was out there has a good and the bad which is a large part what the debates are all about.

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Justin C

12/15/2015 06:52:24 am

I am also glad this event was able to occur without any problems but I feel thier are bigger threats to the environment besides nuclear power plants. Coal plants qnd nuclear power plants require alot of polution to build them but coal plants gove off much more polution in the long run compared to nuclear power plants

If we have surpassed the 1.5 degrees Celsius point, due you think it is possible to keep the rise of temperature to only 2 degrees Celsius? If it is possible to keep the rise in temperature to 2 degrees Celsius, how long does the government have to act before the rise in temperature of 2 degrees Celsius is passed and we are now looking at a rise in temperature of 2.5 degrees Celsius? Also, what can ordinary people do to help keep this temperature from rising?

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Ross Binson

12/15/2015 02:33:50 pm

The issue of the environment is big. Really big, in fact, it's uniquely enormous in scale because everyone everywhere is a part of it whether they like it or not.
No other issue could draw such a diversity of protesters with such a diversity of viewpoints and have all of them be absolutely valid.
As a global society we need to make healthier choices about everything named above: fossil fuels, nuclear energy, agriculture, money... Any number of things, but no single one is a magic fix.
In the spirit of the UN Climate Deal, everyone needs to make an effort to do what they can. The deal alone won't be enough. It's a great milestone, but we aren't out of the woods yet. Getting through this will take nothing less than a total paradigm shift. It's going to take accountability, commitment, and responsibility from everyone out there who can possibly be reached, because this really is as big as all of us.

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Luke

12/16/2015 11:08:30 am

I have to agree with Nick on this one. Climate change is a serious problem and we needed a solution years ago but Nuclear Power is a necessity for now. Nuclear fission is one of the safest and most efficient methods of harvesting reliable energy. On top of that only 100 reactors produce 20% of the Untied States energy and there are 400 commercial reactors around the world. If we did away with them how could we replace the energy lost while being environmentally friendly?

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Sarah

12/16/2015 03:28:58 pm

I agree with Nick and Luke on this topic. Climate change is a problem that has been happening for far too long now. I think that fossils fuels are a major cause of damage. I also agree with Luke about how Nuclear fission is one of the safest and most efficient methods. If people could follow this and stop the burning of fossils fuels our environment could be better.

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Sterlene

12/16/2015 05:24:54 pm

It is very interesting to see that the protesters have different signs that have different detailed meanings even if the sign has 3 or 4 words. I feel it is easier for the public to understand less as well as have the patience to take the time out to read the signs. Less is more in this instance. Climate change is an issue that is not getting resolved so the faster people band together and take the time out to understand the problem, the faster a possible resolution can occur.

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Farrah

12/16/2015 08:04:51 pm

I am glad that people are trying to spread awareness and that citizens in Paris are making the situation know. Climate Change is a serious matter and action needs to be taken. Solutions are starting to be figured out and that's awesome, but they need to begin to be applied to the environment. The citizens are taking a stand and now the government needs to step in and fight for the cause.

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Ben

12/17/2015 06:45:52 am

It's upsetting that people have to protest to protect our planet. The science has proven beyond doubt that greenhouse gasses are causing massive changes to our ecosystem. As an student in college to become an engineer, I hope one day to be involved in finding solutions that find cheaper alternative energy sources.

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LeeK

12/17/2015 07:05:02 am

I'm happy to see the progress we have made in raising awareness and understanding the science behind climate change. Fossil fuels are a major factor in this discussion, I think it is of the utmost importance for us to find other alternative sources of energy

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Kevin

12/17/2015 07:06:10 am

The sign is very telling and tells the whole story of something that needs to change. Im hoping our generation can make a difference. The most important thing is being educated on the matter. Now we can fight back!

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Sam Rockwell

12/17/2015 07:06:48 am

It is almost mind boggling to think that there are still people denying this issue. Let alone people that want to run the United States of America. Climate Change is a very controversial topic, and the science behind it is incredible. What the group of you did as students for the ACS is incredible and to see such young people caring about the environment and climate change leaves me speechless. Thank You for doing the video conference at York College of Pennsylvania also. It was very informative and neat to have first hand testimony of the event.

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Thomas Aruta

12/17/2015 05:56:22 pm

I can't believe that just 2 degrees can affect someones life! How bad are these water levels rising? This is a huge problem and we are the main cause of it. Its very creative how they design their posters!

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Sean

12/18/2015 07:08:56 pm

I have done some research on nuclear waste disposal and it seems that the methods currently used are not particularly harmful to the environment. Although creating a nuclear power plant releases carbon emissions, wouldn't it be better for the environment than damming a river and ruining an ecosystem or having constant emissions from a coal plant?